When the whispering first started about the shadiness of Wyclef's charity, Yele, I refused to participate in throwing shade on the organization when the Haitian people needed help most. But I guess I have egg on my face now, because it seems the rumors where true. Yele seems to have some creative book keeping, and found a way to pay Wyclef's jumpoff a over one hundred thousand dollars.
Yele Haiti, the sketchy foundation that Wyclef Jean founded to help the Haitian people—which received millions in the outpouring of generosity following the wake of the earthquake there—paid Jean's mistress and personal assistant $105,000 in 2008...
According to Yele Haiti's 2008 tax return, which was posted this week by the Smoking Gun, the charity paid Khatou-Chevassus $105,000 as an independent contractor in 2008 for "program development." That amounts to roughly one-third of all the money Yele spent that year on management and general expenses...
"She worked for Wyclef on all Wyclef matters," says one source who has worked with Jean in the past. "She did whatever Wyclef needed that day, whether it was related to Yele or not. She would do things like book flights, and she wasn't very good at it. It's a shame that she made that much money." The source said Khatou-Chevassus' salary amounted to more than three times what Suzie Sylvain, Yele Haiti's dedicated program director who is credited by many Yele Haiti insiders with actually keeping the organization running, was paid.
"Everyone knows they were in a relationship," says another source familiar with Yele Haiti. "A dozen people, including me, saw and knew. It wasn't a secret." Jean is married, but he has said in the past that he has an open relationship with his wife.
Why did Wyclef go on television with those crocodile tears when he knew this? No one will take his organization seriously again. And worse yet, people will be leary of donating money to help Haiti. So instead of helping his people, that he claimed to love so much, he has only hurt them and their recovery efforts.
I won't even get into what kind of woman would take money from a charity organization for being the side piece of the boss, because we all know that jumpoffs are pure opportunists...have money, they swallow follow, no matter who it hurts, even if it hurts an entire country in dire need.
If you are in the mood to feel like you've wallowed around in mud, you can read all of the supporting docs over at the Smoking Gun.
Comments
This organization has lost all credibility with me now, and it's really sad-and disappointing.
H.M.
RSS feed for comments to this post.